


The Defenders of the Universe

by ciitadel, feelinggoodfeelingsassy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Angst, Funny, Guardians of the Galaxy AU, Humor, M/M, Marvel - Freeform, Please give us fanart we're thirsty, Saving the universe (hell yeah), We wrote the first chapter in five hours, space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-17 02:05:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10584153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ciitadel/pseuds/ciitadel, https://archiveofourown.org/users/feelinggoodfeelingsassy/pseuds/feelinggoodfeelingsassy
Summary: [AKA the Voltron Guardians of the Galaxy AU]Legendary Outlaw/Sharpshooter Lance McClain is caught stealing a mysterious orb from the abandoned planet Morag by a group of Galra soldiers, who threaten to turn him in to Prince Lotor. He barely escapes alive, but ends up the target of a raccoon mercenary named Pidge and her personal houseplant/muscle, Hunk. A Galra assassin, Keith, gets word that Lance is in possession of the orb, and after some punching, the four end up in an Altean prison ship. Shiro the Champion joins then on their journey on a quest for his own revenge against the evil Lotor. They escape the prison, and suddenly realize that the orb is more dangerous than they'd originally thought, and now not only are they some of the most wanted criminals in the galaxy, the entire Galra empire is after their asses.PS: All underlined words/phrases are links to songs from the movie- we recommend you turn them on as background music for the full experience!





	1. Come and Get Your Love

**Author's Note:**

> Y'ALL WE WROTE A THING
> 
> So we were talking about au's and this popped into our heads somehow, so we kept the GOTG soundtrack on loop for five hours and churned out an entire outline and first chapter of this. 
> 
> We hope you guys enjoy this, it was super fun to write and hopefully will get crackier in the future!
> 
> -Reese and Ellie

_Earth, 2005_

A young boy was sitting in a hospital waiting room, his hands in his lap as he toyed with the buttons of an old Walkman. His eyes were downcast, dark bags beneath them indicating he hadn’t been sleeping well as of late. Looking at his face, you'd expect him to be the one in the hospital bed- his eyes tired and red from crying, his skin pale. He didn't look like a normal ten year old boy. He looked sick. Hospital staff buzzed around him, doctors going to see patients, nurses recording vitals on charts, all sparing the young child sympathetic glances as they went by. He readjusted the headphones that covered his ears, shutting the world out around him so he could be left with his thoughts. 

The slow melody flowing through them was loud, loud enough to drown out the repetitive droning of a nearby heart rate monitor, something he'd begun to dread hearing. So loud that the first few times the boy's grandfather called his name he didn't respond, and the man had to tug the headphones off onto his shoulders. 

“Lance-” he repeated, the boy finally looking up. The man's face was sad, but stern, his expression grim. His deep brown eyes were the kind you'd see on a soldier. “You need to come in now. It's time.”

Lance stared blankly at his grandfather, the words sending a painful jolt through his chest. Those were the words that had been haunting him for days, keeping him up at night with the fear of the inevitable. 

Feeling as if his body was made of lead, Lance shifted off the chair and onto his feet, holding onto his grandfather’s hand tightly as the older man led him into the hospital room. With each step he took the sense of dread and fear grew within him, and all he wanted to do in that moment was run. Run as far as he could from that room, that hospital, from everything. 

But he couldn’t. There was someone he had to see. 

All eyes were on him as he entered the room, the kind and sympathetic gazes of his numerous cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, and sisters all following him as the youngest member of the family made his way to the hospital bed. The smell of antiseptic permeated the air, combining with the constant beep of the heart monitor and giving Lance extreme nausea. 

A relative gently shook Lance’s mother’s arm as he approached, and her honey eyes fluttered open, still somehow brightening when she saw her son despite her weakened state. The sickness was there, still, in frail body and bald head, but the same pride that she always had for her son still shone through. 

“Oh, Lance, you came.” Her voice was hoarse and hushed, difficult for anyone not near her to hear, but still filled with immeasurable love. Lance nodded, keeping his gaze focused on the walkman in his hands, rather than the image of his dying mother. Despite his attempts to turn his face away, his mother’s keen gaze still noticed the bright ring of purple around his left eye. 

“Lance, have you been fighting with the other kids again?” She asked softly. Lance’s head hung down, a deep sense of embarrassment running through him. 

“Yeah, but you should’ve seen what they did. They were picking on this kid for no reason! They threw his lunchbox over the fence, and I didn’t wanna just watch.” Lance explained, hoping his mother would see his reasoning. Instead of receiving a scolding like he expected, she just laughed quietly, a warm smile lighting up her gaunt cheeks and sunken in eyes.

“You remind me so much of your father.” She said, her voice low. “He was amazing, an angel, even. A being made completely of light-” Her words were cut off by a hand on her shoulder, and Lance’s grandfather’s voice. 

“You have a gift for Lance, yes?” He asked. It was hurried, although he'd tried to hide it from the boy. The woman realized she'd been letting her mind drift, and turned her gaze back to the small package by her side, shakily wrapped in paper patterned with blue lions. Lance’s favorite animal. His grandfather picked up the present and unzipped Lance’s backpack, securing it inside before zipping it back up. 

“You can open it later, after I’m gone.” His mother told him, her tone conveying only acceptance. The words were like a knife to Lance’s heart, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to ignore the implication of what she had said. It was silent for a moment, the only noise in the room the sniffles of those around him, and the steadily beating heart monitor. Then, his mother’s hand shifted slightly on the bed, weakly reaching for Lance. 

“Lance, take my hand.” His mother asked, her eyelids beginning to flutter shut. Lance turned his head away, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks. He couldn’t take her hand. If he took her hand, she would die. He knew this. He didn’t want to accept that. He didn’t want that to happen. He just wanted everything to be okay and go back home. 

“Please- Lance, take my hand.” Her voice was tinged with desperation, and she was crying too now. Suddenly, the heart rate monitor began to beep faster and faster, until….

Silence. 

Lance’s eyes blinked open, and saw his mother’s honey eyes had now closed. Her hand was limp, and her face had gone slack, none of the pride or love he had seen moments before remaining in her expression.

“NO!” Lance screamed, immediately reaching for her hand, only to be pulled away by his grandfather. “NO- MAMA!” His cries echoed throughout the hospital, shattering the hearts of everyone near him. There was nothing worse than the cry of a child. 

“Lance stop! LANCE, STOP! You have to let go!” His grandfather yelled, prying his fingers out from her still-warm ones. Lance kicked and screamed as his grandfather carried him out of the room, writhing and struggling to get out of the older man’s grip. Lance sobbed and continued to fight, until he felt his feet touch the ground again and his grandfather kneeled down in front of him.

“Please, Lance just- just stay here. I’ll be right back.” His grandfather said, his voice thick with unshed tears of his own. The man then stood back up and turned around, hurrying back into the room that was quickly filling with stifling panic and grief. 

Then he was running, sprinting out the door as fast as he could. Away from his grandfather, away from the hospital, away from his mom. If he wasn't there, he could pretend it wasn't happening, he could run home and everything would be okay. He couldn’t accept this, couldn’t believe it was real. His mother wasn’t dead, she couldn’t be. This had to be a dream. This wasn’t actually happening.

He dropped to his knees in the middle of the grass, the cold air stinging at his tear soaked cheeks. Lance stared at the ground, his lungs burning from both panic and exertion. 

Lance’s thoughts were swirling around in his head like a hurricane. A disjointed mess of emotions and memories, creating a thick haze where his sense of logic was lost. He stared at his hands, the dried blood around his nail beds from his fight with the kids barely visible in the faint light of the moon.

A sudden roaring and a gust of air snapped Lance out of his thoughts, his head whipping up and towards the source of the noise. A bright light suddenly blinded him, and it took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust so he could make out what he was seeing over his head. 

An enormous ship- the kind of spaceship you'd see in a sci-fi film hung in the sky above him. He was bathed in white light, and his hands flew up to shield his eyes as it grew brighter, and the ship began to hum. 

“MOOOM!” He screamed as he was pulled upwards by some sort of invisible force, everything was filled with light, and the world disappeared.

-

_Morag - Abandoned Planet  
12 years later_

Rain poured down on the bleak, grey landscape of a dead planet. Only the slightest bit of sunlight kissed its surface, illuminating the heavy fog that hung low near the ground. There were no signs of life anywhere on this planet, the only movement being the steady fall of water from the sky, and geysers shooting up explosive jets of water from under the ground. Suddenly, a spaceship appeared in the sky, slowly lowering down onto the surface of one of the many abandoned cities that dotted the deceased world. 

A figure cloaked in red stepped out of the aircraft, with nothing but a coat and a mask to shield himself from the heavy downpour. He walked confidently through the fog, with red headlights guiding his way to what once was a cityscape. The empty shells of the buildings held the ghosts of a civilization long dead, and the man swore he could almost hear their voices in the rain. 

The man pulled a strange device out of the pocket of his coat, smacking the machine a few times with his hands until the screen flickered to life, and a holographic projection of a map lit up the space in front of him. A bright dot was flashing in the center of the map, and the man studied the route before turning the device off again and continuing on his way. 

He stepped into the remains of what must’ve been an impressive structure back in its glory, held up by stone pillars, some barely standing and some crumbled onto the sand. The only things adding color to the scene were a few plants, mostly dead trees with overgrown roots and moss on the surface of the stone. Light shone in through a hole in the ceiling, but other than that, the man was surrounded in darkness. The man gazed around the ruins and slowly reached up to touch a button on his helmet, causing the mask to disappear, revealing his face. 

Lance gazed around the large room, and pulled a pair of headphones over his ears that connected to a battered Walkman on his belt. He pressed play on the machine, and a [familiar song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkr77jE5GFY&app=desktop) began to play.

As the catchy melody filled his ears, Lance grinned widely and began to make his way through the room, dancing with each step he took. He splashed through puddles, kicked odd alien rodents in time with the beat, and let the music envelope him in its comforting and nostalgic embrace. Lance twirled around, letting his duster flare out behind him, and grabbed one of the alien rodents to use as a fake microphone so he could sing along. 

If anyone had been watching Lance in that moment, they would've thought he was a psychopath. Or a dumbass.

Finally, after spending way too much time dancing around the room, Lance made it to the doors he was looking for. They were extremely tall and grand, with intricate carvings covered in moss lining its surface. It took him only seconds to breach the security, using a small silver device to pick the lock. The doors started to slide open on their own with a loud grinding, barely audible over the music, then Lance stepped through. 

Once inside, Lance saw that the room was mostly empty, save for a metal pedestal in the center surrounded by a glowing purple force field. The pedestal was tall with ornate designs adorning the outside, indicating some kind of importance. Floating inside the forcefield, was a small, metal orb with equally intricate patterns, not much bigger than the size of Lance’s fist. That was it. That’s what he was there for. 

Grinning to himself, Lance pushed his headphones back down around his neck, and sauntered over to the pedestal. Knowing full well he wouldn’t be able to disable the forcefield, Lance placed down one of his favorite gadgets onto the ground, and turned on the magnetic force of his shoes before flipping the device on and activating its gravitational field. 

Within seconds the orb had been pulled through the forcefield, and with a smirk Lance picked up the cool metal and placed it into his bag. Easy as pie, just how he liked it. 

Suddenly, when Lance turned to leave, he spotted several armed figures rushing in through the doorway, all with their weapons pointed at him. They all had purple skin and pointed ears, and their yellow eyes glowed threateningly as they approached Lance. He immediately started to back up into the wall away from the aliens. 

“Uh… hey there. Nice weather we're having, huh?” Lance said awkwardly as they grew closer. 

“Drop the orb! GIVE US THE ORB!” One of the men shouted, his voice gruff and angry. He seemed to be the leader of the trio, walking in front of and holding himself higher than the others. 

“Whoah whoah whoah! Take it easy!” Lance dropped the orb, then held his arms out in front of him to show he was unarmed. It rolled forward across the floor and towards the feet of the leader, who picked it up, examining it before holding it up tauntingly to Lance. 

“How did you know where this was?” He asked, his eyes narrowed and voice full of threatening intent. 

“I-I’m just a junker, man! I don’t even know what this thing is!” Lance explained as the other two soldiers moved behind him, guns aimed at his head

“LIAR! You don’t look like a junker!” The leader yelled, taking a step closer to Lance. One of the other soldiers butted him in the arm, indicating their displeasure with him. 

“Ninja turtle you better stop poking me!” Lance snapped.

“WHAT IS YOUR NAME?!” The leader shouted, clearly growing impatient. 

“My-my name is Lance McClain! I-I swear I’m just a scavenger!” The leader stared at Lance for a moment, tilting his head to the side as he scrutinized Lance. Then he jerked his head towards his two henchmen, and turned around to walk out the door.

“Take him with us. Lotor might have some use for him.” The leader snapped. The soldiers immediately grabbed both of Lance’s arms, and he shrugged out of their grips and ran forward towards the leader.

“Wait- don't go yet. There's another name you might know me by.” Lance said, a heroic sort of seriousness on his face. This got the leader’s attention, and he turned back to face Lance. 

“The Sharpshooter.” 

Silence.

“Who?”

“Aw c’mon man! You know, the Sharpshooter? Can hit a moving target from over a mile away? Legendary outlaw? Ya know? Like this?” Lance pointed his hands into guns and pretended to shoot around, making ‘pew pew’ noises for effect. The leader just looked confused, and scoffed before turning around to leave again. 

“Grab him, we’re leaving.” The leader commanded, stepping out the door. 

“Oh, forget this.” Lance muttered, before proceeding to drop a new device from his seemingly endless pockets. He kicked it behind him into the guards where it immediately exploded, turning the two soldiers into ash. The leader whirled around, his eyes widening in shock, but before he could react Lance had already pulled out his guns and shot the man square in the chest, sending him flying backwards onto the floor. 

Smirking to himself, Lance bent down to pick up the orb again, and placed it back in his bag. It was really all too simple, these guys didn’t stand a chance against Lance and his vast array of weapons curated over years and years of scavenging across the galaxies. Who cares if they hadn’t known who the Sharpshooter was? One day, they would. 

His internal praise was suddenly interrupted when a groan sounded from the leader of the soldiers, pulling himself back onto his feet with his gun aimed at Lance. 

Lance fell back just in time to miss the shot, the blast just missing his face and blowing a hole in the wall behind him instead, and he landed flat on his back. With the push of a button his mask was back on and the rockets on his boots came to life, propelling him straight out of the hole behind him and outside the building. He landed rather ungracefully in the dirt, skidding about 15 feet across the ground before he could stand again. 

Then Lance was back on his feet and booking it as fast as he could for his ship. The leader of the soldiers let out a shriek of rage before leaping out of the building and onto the ground, and Lance only spared a momentary glance behind him before he was running again. By the time he got to his ship, he saw about five more soldiers waiting for him. Reaching into his bag Lance pulled out yet another gravity creator, and threw it into the center of the group and watched as their bodies crushed against each other, the gravity pulling them into a football-style dog pile. 

Using a rock to boost himself, he took a running leap over the soldiers and slid down the top of his ship, opening the windshield just in time for him to slide into his seat. Lance missed, however, and crashed a few feet away from the console with a bang to the head and a loud thud. He groaned and got into the pilot’s seat as fast as he could, desperate to escape the planet before anything else happened. 

Little did he know, the soldiers outside had begun to quickly assemble a turret aimed straight for his ship. Lance noticed the green laser heading straight for him at the last second and swerved out of the way, turning the ship so it was hanging sideways in the sky and almost launching him out of his seat. 

Lance swerved and dodged explosion after explosion as the soldiers chased after him, letting out a wild laugh as he climbed further and further up in the planet’s atmosphere. After a few seconds of tactical flying, he was almost in the clear and could practically taste freedom, when without warning, his ship was launched into the sky by a humongous geyser. He went up and up for a few seconds until the geyser stopped, and he started spiraling down towards the surface of the planet. 

His body was flung up into the windshield, and then all around the ship as its movements became out of control. Lance's ship was rapidly approaching the ground, and if it hadn't been for the sheer luck that flung Lance forwards far enough that he could grab onto the controls and steady the ship, he and the Blue Lion would've been done for. 

Lance sighed in relief, slumping back against the wall of the ship and closing his eyes. He was safe, god he was finally safe, and so was the precious orb. Lance sat in the calm for a few moments, letting himself catch his breath, until he was interrupted by a sudden clanging somewhere in the lower part of his ship. 

Out of the trapdoor that led to the lower part of the ship, a girl with two-toned yellow skin and large, purple eyes peeked her head out of the door. She looked like she had just been through hell, which was understandable given the psychotic maneuvers the ship had just made. Her eyes flickered around, taking in the chaotic mess, before she settled on Lance. 

“Lance?” She asked, “What happened?!” 

“Oh! Hey, uh- um…” Lance snapped his fingers together a few times, frantically searching his brain for the name of the woman in his ship, one of his old t shirts clinging tightly to her form. 

“Nyma.” She supplied for him, looking confused and slightly hurt. 

“Yeah! Nyma! Look, uh, I’m gonna be totally honest with you. I forgot you were here.”


	2. Go All The Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Legendary Outlaw/Sharpshooter Lance McClain gets his ass kicked by a racoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE HAVE ANOTHER CHAPTER HOLY QUIZNACK 
> 
> Reese and I were talking about how GOTG Volume 2 is coming out in a little over two weeks, and how we're probably going to have to take notes and see the movie a couple of times before we continue on from the end of the first act. I'd love to say that we'll have the whole thing done before then but I'm not sure hAHA whoops
> 
> enjoy kids

Soon after that the Blue lion was back in the air, heading away from the barren planet and towards Altea, the orb safe in Lance’s bag. He flipped through a hologram screen while Nyma sat with a cup of some of space coffee behind him, neither of them paying much attention to the news Lance had put on. It was talking about something involving a race called the Galra and a peace treaty- nothing either of them cared about. Lance was focusing more on the [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULL7apmAJTE) blaring through the ship’s speakers.

“Lance, you have a call.” Nyma said as a ringing began blaring from the holo-screen on the table. Lance whirled around, eyes widening when he saw who it was, and panicking when he saw that Nyma was about to press the answer button.

“Wait! No no no-” He was cut off when Nyma answered, and a familiar voice sounded from the screen behind him. 

“McClain!” Lance sighed deeply, and Nyma gave him an apologetic look as he slowly turned around to look at the face on the screen behind him. 

“Heyyy Rolo.” Lance said, pursing his lips into a grimace as he examined Rolo’s expression. He certainly didn’t look happy, and it didn’t take a genius brain like Lance’s to figure out what he was upset over. “How you doing?”

“Well, I’ve been waiting for you to show up with that orb of mine for a few hours now. Do you have it or not? Where are you?” He asked impatiently, baring yellow and silver teeth. Lance shook his head. 

“Sorry Rolo, but I don’t think I’m going to tell you that.” Lance said flatly, earning a surprised look from Nyma, who had been listening in. Rolo gawked at him.

“Not going to tell me? You don’t treat me like that- I go through all that work getting this deal for you, and this is how you repay me?” He was shouting now, and Lance was growing more annoyed. “We have a code-”

“Yeah- and your code is ‘steal from everybody!” Lance shouted back, frustrated with Rolo. Did Rolo have the right to be angry with him? Absolutely. Did Lance care? No. 

“I can’t believe this. I’ve done so much for you, kid. And this is what you do?” Rolo was giving Lance a hard glare. “When I first picked you up from Earth, my crew wanted to eat you. They never tasted an Earthling before. But I stopped them! I saved your life, kid. You’re alive because of me!” Lance sighed, having heard this speech about a dozen times before. It was Rolo’s favorite guilt card to pull on Lance, implying that saving him from literally being eaten by Rolo’s friend’s made Rolo allowed to act like a slave driver. 

“Sorry Rolo, but I gotta go.” Lance said, moving towards the ‘hang up call’ button. 

“McClain I will find you, and when I do, I’m going to-” Rolo was cut off as the screen went dark. Lance’s shoulders sagged as he turned around to face Nyma, who was also giving him a look of anger. The last thing he needed right now was Rolo on his ass. All Lance wanted to do was sell the orb for as much money as he could get, and maybe go take a vacation somewhere. 

Back on Morag, Rolo was practically screaming in frustration as he stormed back to his ship. “QUIZNACK!” he shouted, then turned to a member of his crew walking next to him. “Put a bounty on him- 40 thousand GAC! I want that kid back here, with the orb, ALIVE!”

“ALIVE?! Of course you’d say that!” another shouted.“You and that kid, you always gave him special treatment-”

“YOU are the only one getting special treatment.” Rolo snapped, suddenly having stopped walking and turned to face the crew. With one hand, he pulled back his coat, letting the wind blow it behind him to reveal a small, blinking red arrow attached to his belt. The man looked terrified- both of the weapon, and of how quickly Rolo’s demeanor changed, from angry to full out dark. “I want McClain alive, and I’ll kill ‘im myself when we get him back. But for now, we’re going after that son of a bitch. We need to find out who else wants that orb.”

The crew nodded fearfully, all clearly petrified by their leader, and kept walking.

-  
_The Dark Aster  
Galra Warship_

A few galaxies away, a prince was being prepared for ceremony. 

Four servants cloaked in deep purple surrounded the man with bowls of water, pouring them over his head, his neck, his shoulders, bathing him as part of an ancient Galran ritual for only royalty such as him. He was dusted in a yellow powder, and black war paint was smudged onto his face; in lines trailing down from lifeless, yellow eyes and the area around them, on his forehead, his lower lip and down his neck. They dressed him in his armor, finishing with his headpiece, and he stepped out into the dark hall.

The prince approached the woman in the center of the room, her hands bound behind her back as she knelt on the floor. Lotor towered over the prisoner, his broad shoulders and shining black armor making him look more edgy than terrifying, which was made clear as the Altean prisoner spat at his feet.

“They call me a murderer,” Lotor began, his booming voice echoing off the walls. “a terrorist, a radical, every word describing an embodiment of evil, simply because I deliver punishment where it is due. Because I obey the Galra empire. Because I kill your people- who took away what was rightfully my father’s!” 

“You can’t do this! You know full well that our government’s signed a peace treaty!” She shouted, her narrowed eyes as cold as shards of ice. Lotor didn’t react, instead just took his weapon from the hands of the servant. Settling his grip on the warhammer, Lotor readied himself in front of the prisoner. 

“My government knows no peace treaty.” Lotor said, “You Alteans and your culture are a terrible disease, a blight upon the splendor of the galaxies.” He continued. 

“You… You will never rule Altea!” The woman spat, her words filled with poison despite knowing she was about to die. 

“You are right, I will never rule Altea.” Lotor agreed, raising the hammer above his head. “I WILL CURE IT!” 

The smash of the hammer crashing into the prisoner’s face echoed throughout the room.

Lotor watched the blood trickle down her limp body and pool inside the stone carvings in the ground, the thick, dark liquid covering the intricate designs. Then, footsteps sounded behind him, breaking the deathly silence, and woman spoke.

“Prince Lotor, Sendak has returned.” Haggar spoke sharply as she walked by him, her long cloak trailing along the ground. Lotor stood up and went to his throne room, where the officer in question was waiting. 

“Where is my orb?” Lotor asked, sitting down upon his throne. Sendak winced, clenching his fists and glancing at the ground before looking back up, meeting Lotor eye to eye. 

“My lord, we could not get it.” He paused, as if waiting for Lotor to blow up. The prince did not, and instead waved at him to continue. “There was a thief. An outlaw who calls himself ‘The Sharpshooter’. He defeated my men and managed to flee the planet with the orb. I believe he is going to sell it to a broker.”

“I have an agreement with Zarkon. I am to deliver the orb to him, and in return,” He paused, staring directly into Sendak’s eyes. “He shall destroy Altea for me.” Lotor stood up and faced the witch beside him, her yellow eyes shining from the shadow of her hood.

“Haggar, you shall go to Altea and retrieve the orb for me.” He declared. Haggar nodded and stepped forward, lifting her head to reveal part of her face.

“It will be an honor, my lord-”

“It will be your doom.” A voice interrupted. Lotor turned as another figure emerged from the shadows. 

The man, or rather, boy, stepped towards Lotor, his yellow eyes glowing as eerily as Haggar’s in the gloom of the room. 

“You can’t afford to fail again. If the orb is not retrieved this time, you will be facing my father alone.” He said in a low but dangerous voice.

“Our father.” Lotor corrected, practically spitting the word out. 

“Yes, our father. He is not kind to those who have failed him, especially not those who have failed him multiple times. Whether you are his son or not, he will not have mercy on you should Haggar be unable to obtain the orb.” At this, Haggar stepped forward to join the conversation, a sneer spread across her face.

“I am one of Zarkon’s most trusted subordinates. Why shouldn’t I be the one to retrieve the orb?” She asked, her gaze just daring either of the men to challenge her on this. 

“I know the planet system, and have a higher chance of getting the orb from this thief successfully. Let me go, or risk Zarkon’s rage.” Lotor glared at him, and he gave a leveled stare back, and after a stretch of silence that seemed infinite, Lotor finally looked away. 

“Fine. Keith, you will go to Altea and retrieve the orb, and you…” Lotor paused, turning around one last time. Keith did not flinch at his piercing gaze. “You will not fail.” 

“Have I ever?”

-  
_Altea  
Capital of the Altean Empire_

“Alteans. What a bunch of quiznaks.” 

A sprawling shopping center buzzed with life in the afternoon sun. Hundreds of people milled about, arms full of both shopping bags and squirming children. In the midst of this peaceful scene, a small creature stood near a fountain in the center of the square, dark beady eyes set behind a pair of thin wire-framed glasses. The creature was watching the scene in front of her through a pair of binoculars, making snarky comments about the people she was watching and somehow not being noticed by the many passerby’s, despite being both a literal racoon, and standing in plain sight. 

“Look at this guy! Can you believe they call us criminals when he’s assaulting with that mustache?” Pidge said, referring to a very tall, very gorgeous ginger-haired man with a perfectly groomed moustache that was about the width of his face. 

“And this loser!” Pidge yelled, turning her gaze to a small child who was holding the hand of a parent. “It can't even walk by itself! Stupid little gargoyle!” She turned again, the binoculars coming to rest on an elderly man whose arm was wrapped around the waist of a much younger woman. 

“And look at this creep! I wonder where your wife is, old man! Isn't that right, Hunk?” Pidge put her binoculars down and turned to look at her companion, who was currently drinking water from the fountain behind them. “HUNK! Don't drink fountain water, that's disgusting! I'll buy you a soda or something, geez.” 

Hunk wrapped his arms around his chest defensively and murmured an embarrassed, “I am Hunk”, trying to pretend he hadn't just gotten caught. 

“Yes you did! I just saw you, don't pretend like you didn't do it. You're not exactly subtle, Hunk.” She said, scrutinizing his odd, tree-like body for the billionth time. Suddenly, the device in her hand began making a shrill noise, alerting her that a wanted criminal had been detected. Pidge returned her focus to the tablet and held it up to take a look at what, or rather who, had been detected. 

The binoculars immediately zoomed in on a sweet young couple, a man who looked similar to an Altean and a woman with pale, yellow skin and tentacles in place of hair on her head. They were embracing one another, looking as if they were exchanging goodbyes. The device zoomed in further, closing in on the man’s face, and Pidge waited as his bounty began to load up on the screen.

Fugitive: Lance McClain  
Wanted: Alive  
Guarantor: Rolo the Ravager  
Bounty: 40,000 gac

“Holy quiznak… 40,000 gac… Hunk! We can get all the video games and spare parts we want!” Pidge shouted excitedly, turning back towards her companion, frowning when she found him guzzling the fountain water yet again. 

“Goddammit…” 

~

After exchanging his farewells with Nyma, Lance made his way across the shopping center, heading towards his buyer’s store. 

Opening the doors, Lance went to take a step inside the small shop, when a familiar accented voice shouted through. 

“WAIT!” Slav shouted. From his position outside the doors, Lance could mostly make out the shape of the unusually long, bird-like alien. 

“There is a 37% chance that, in this reality, if you step through the doorway with your right foot first, you will break that leg.” He warned, no sarcasm in his tone. Lance, who’d met Slav before and was used to these strange remarks, just walked forward starting with his left foot. Slav looked visibly relieved when he did this, only making a noise of protest when Lance jokingly tripped on his left foot.

“Hey Slav, how's my favorite pigeon... centipede... weird… little… broker?” Lance said, stuttering when trying to describe the peculiar creature. 

“Oh! Besides the steadily rising 42% chance that this universe will be destroyed in the next four weeks, I’ll say that my business is booming and I am doing just fine.” Slav said rather cheerfully. “Now where is Rolo?” 

“He wished he could be here, but got pulled with, you know, ravager duties. So, you got me as your charming delivery boy instead!” Lance smirked, finger gunning at him. “But, he wanted me to tell you, that you got the best arms in the business!” Lance said, gesturing to Slav’s numerous limbs as he set the orb down onto the table. Slav shrugged at the “compliment”, before proceeding to examine the orb with a magnifying glass.

“So… what is it?” Lance asked, leaning over the table slightly to get a better look. 

“There is a chance that in 76 realities, if I discuss my clients or our transactions, it will lead to my unfortunate demise.” Slav explained simply. Lance raised an eyebrow.

“Well, it was hard enough to get let me tell you. There was some cyborg freak trying to kill me for it, working for a dude named Lotor.” At this, Slav’s head whipped up, his already wide eyes growing impossibly wider at Lance’s words. 

“Lotor?” Lance looked up, wondering why he sounded so panicked. “I am very sorry, Mr. McClain, there is too high of a chance- 99% -that if I am involved with ANYTHING involving Prince Lotor-”

“Wait! Hold up just a minute!” Lance yelled, pushing back against the small man. “You can't just kick me out! Who the hell is Lotor?” 

“Lotor is a Galra royal, one who is enraged by the peace treaty between Alteans, MY people, and the Galra.” Slav explained frantically, slithering up over the counter to push Lance out of the door. “He will stop at nothing to wipe out our people, and the possibility of him causing a war between our peoples is very high, around 80%! He is someone whose bad side I would rather not be on, and if he knew I was in possession of the orb, there is no telling what the possibilities could be!”

“Wha- Hey what about my bad side?!” He shouted in response, wondering why this was happening to him after everything he had gone through to get the stupid orb. 

“I am sorry again, Mr. McClain, but I must wish you good day!” Slav said, shoving the orb into Lance’s hand before closing the door in his face. 

“OH COME ON! WE HAD A DEAL, BRO!” Lance shouted in frustration, groaning into his hands as he kicked at the ground. He took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair, when he suddenly felt someone’s eyes on him. Glancing up, Lance was startled when his eyes met with the bright yellow eyes of a hot Galra dude eating a space apple. 

The rather attractive alien looked like most Galra did, except he seemed to be much shorter than he should have been. In fact, he was even shorter than Lance. His body was light purple and very well-toned, Lance noticed. His partially mesh shirt showed off his rather well-muscled pecs and abdomen as well, the other part of his shirt being made of dark pleather. Fingerless gloves covered his clawed hands, and two knives were holstered onto the hips of his belt (which looked suspiciously like a fanny pack). And Lance would’ve fallen in love with this man instantly, if not for the fact that he had a goddamn mullet. 

After a moment of staring at the hot Galra dude, Lance’s bisexuality kicked into full gear, and he was just about to activate his flirting mode, when the guy spoke first. 

“What happened?” He asked as he took another bite of his fruit, despite not seeming very interested in the other.

Lance blinked in surprise, the sudden attention catching him off guard, before mentally slapping himself to respond. 

“Uh, w-well, this jerk just backed out of a deal on me!” Lance exclaimed, his anger returning as he remembered Slav’s words. “You know, if there’s one thing I hate in this world, it’s douchebags like that.” He paused for a brief second, before deciding to introduce himself. “The name’s Lance McClain, people call me ‘The Sharpshooter’.” He said, throwing him his signature smirk. The guy looked Lance up and down for a moment, before he spoke again.

“I’m Keith.” He said in response. “And you don’t seem like a douchebag, at least not to me.” Keith stepped over to Lance, a curious look in his eyes. 

“Oh, well, yeah I don’t think I’m a douchebag. I like to think of myself as, well, honorable and… honest- I mean, I wouldn’t say that about myself… but people say it about me-” Before he could finish his sentence, Keith kicked Lance hard in the stomach (thankfully two inches higher than what would have been a very uncomfortable situation for Lance), snatched the orb out of his hand, and sprinted away all in the span of a few seconds. 

“HEY!” Lance looked to where Keith was running away, and quickly reached into his seemingly bottomless jacket pocket and pulled out a small device; two metal pieces connected by a pinkish-purple cord which was humming with electricity. He chucked it as hard as he could at Keith, who was already several yards ahead, and when it bumped against the back of his legs the cord automatically wrapped around them, and with a painful zap Keith fell to the floor. Lance began sprinting towards him and jumped, trying to tackle the boy, but before he landed Keith had already untangled himself from the cord and kicked Lance in the gut for the second time that day, this time with both feet. 

Lance groaned, the impact having knocked the wind out of him, and hit the ground next to Keith. The Galra uppercutted Lance twice and Lance hit back, before Keith ripped his hand away and punched him in the gut. Then, in lightning fast succession, Keith’s fist connected with his face, before he swung his leg up and kicked Lance right in the jaw. Lance grunted and tried to sit up, but Keith delivered another swift punch to his nose and sent him flying back down. 

Lance knew he had to do something. He blindly reached for the gun on his hip but a foot came down on his hand. Keith rolled on top of him, his head blocking out the shining sun above.

“Dammit, this wasn’t the plan.” He muttered, before pulling out one of his knives and lifting his arms above his head, ready to shove the weapon right through Lance’s chest. 

Before Lance could even blink though, out of nowhere something that looked like a small racoon leapt out from the shadows, tackling Keith which sent him flying off Lance and onto the concrete. 

“HUNK! PUT HIM IN THE BAG!” The racoon shouted, clinging to Keith's face like a koala to a tree. Lance looked up and saw what appeared to be a giant, living tree with a face, holding a large laundry bag, reaching forward with quickly growing branches that began to wrap around Keith like a vice. 

“DAMMIT HUNK! NOT THE SHORT ONE, THE OTHER HIM!” The racoon yelled, still crawling around Keith’s head, clutching his hair desperately as he tried to shake the weird creature off.

“I AM HUNK!” He screamed in reply, and Pidge tried to motion to Lance in response without losing her balance and falling off Keith’s face. 

Lance began to wonder if he had hit his head too hard and was suffering from hallucinations. 

Keith screamed as the racoon shoved her hands in Keith's mouth and pulled, before biting down hard on the creature’s small fingers. She yelped in pain. 

“HEY! I’M THE ONE WHO BITES HERE!” She shouted, growling as she began to claw at the Galra’s face. Lance, having finally gathered his senses, scrambled to his feet as hastily as possible, grabbing the orb as he sprinted away from the scene. 

The branches continued to wrap around Keith’s body, and as he watched Lance sprint away he let out a shriek of frustration, before tensing his muscles and shattering the branches surrounding him. Keith then grabbed the small creature still clinging to his head, and hurled her away from him as hard as possible. Pidge went flying and slammed straight into a glass holo-display. Keith then picked up his knife that he had dropped during the skirmish, and turned his gaze to the still-fleeing Lance. 

Narrowing his gaze, Keith settled his aim, and threw the knife towards the ravager. It flew straight towards the hand holding the orb, and Lance yelped as the impact knocked it to the ground. The orb rolled along the pavement and underneath the glass barrier of the walkway, then fell onto the lower level of the shopping center with a loud thud. Keith’s knife suddenly transformed into a full length sword that glowed faintly purple, and he sliced into Hunk, who was still holding the laundry bag. Using a table that two people were dining on as a boost, leapt down onto the lower level only a few feet away from the orb. 

Keith grabbed the orb and sprinted through the crowd of people in the square, but had only made it a few feet before he glanced up, and saw Lance jumping off the walkway, who then slammed into him at full force. The two proceeded to engage in a wrestling match, which ended with Keith on top of Lance, his knee at his neck. 

“You stupid quiznak,” Keith muttered as he reached for the second dagger at his hip. 

“Well, at least I’m not a douchebag.” Lance replied with a smirk. Keith felt a hand at his thigh, and next thing he knew he was being fired through the air, not having noticed the rocket booster Lance had attached to his leg. Keith felt himself crash into the fountain, skidding through the water until his head slammed against the edge and sent his vision reeling. 

Lance, meanwhile, was watching the affair with a cocky grin, tossing the orb up and down in his hand like a ball. Unfortunately, his pride was short-lived, because he didn’t notice Hunk standing behind him and suddenly the laundry bag was thrown over his head and he was being slung over the shoulder of a tree man.

“Hunk, please stop smiling, we should at least try to act a little bit like professionals here!” Pidge said, turning around to leave the scene. Hunk didn't have time to reply before Pidge groaned, having seen Keith walking towards her and Hunk, sword in hand. 

“Oh c’mon, you gotta be kidding me!” She said and Keith put his hand on Pidge’s face, shoving her to the ground with ease. Once she was out of the way, all it took was a few good slices on Keith’s part, and Hunk’s arms were no longer attached to his body. With the bag now on the ground, Keith kneeled in front of it to open it. 

Lance suddenly popped out of the bag, gun in hand, and shot Keith right in the face with his tazer. Keith thrashed violently for a few seconds, the electricity running through his entire body, before passing out onto the ground with a grunt. 

Standing up, Lance tried to shake the bag off of his feet as he ran away from the racoon and the tree, orb still in hand. Pidge watched him go, smirking as she pulled out the gun that expanded until it was almost as big as her, and aimed it at the fleeing boy.

“You know, Hunk? I live for the simple things in life. Like how much this is gonna hurt.” A ball of electricity shot out from the gun, hitting Lance square in the back and sending him to the ground in agonizing pain. Pidge chuckled to herself, watching the spectacle with a smile.

“Yeah, that’s right. Writhe little man.” She turned around, looking back to her companion who was staring mournfully at his severed limbs. She sighed, giving him a sympathetic look. “Oh chill out, Hunk. You know they’ll regrow in a couple hours.” As Pidge went to walk over to her bounty, a glowing gold force field suddenly froze her body, and she was lifted off the ground. Looking up, she saw three Altean Starships surrounding her and Hunk. 

“By order of Voltron, you must drop your weapons!" Said a man's voice over an intercom. 

“Aw, quiznak.” Pidge muttered, dropping her gun where it clattered to the ground. 

Meanwhile, Lance didn’t even have the chance to recover from his electrocution, before he was being hoisted to his feet by an Altean officer, who just so happened to be the man from earlier with the moustache bigger than Lance’s ego. 

“Heya! If it isn’t Sharpblade!” The man said in a thick accent as he put handcuffs onto Lance's wrists. 

“Oh c’mon man, it’s Sharpshooter.” Lance said in a dejected tone.

“Whoops, my bad! Sorry lad!” He said, patting Lance on the back, before proceeding to hoist Lance’s entire body over his shoulder without so much as a grunt. 

“WHOA, WHAT THE HELL?!” Lance screeched, flailing aimlessly. Clearly, the seemingly skinny Altean man was secretly ripped. 

“It’s alright, you young whippersnapper! It’s cool to have a code name! I bet that’s what all the kids are doing nowadays, right?” Lance sighed and let his resistance drop, knowing there was no getting out of this now. 

From over the soldier’s back, he could partially see the racoon, the tree, and the Galra dude from earlier all being arrested by the Voltron force as well. Keith was still unconscious, the tree looked as if he was about to cry and the racoon looked downright pissed about the whole situation. Together, they were carried away by the Voltron force and away from the space mall. 

If anything, at least Lance wasn’t in this alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Our tumblrs:
> 
> Reese: thatsnotrelevant.tumblr.com
> 
> Reese's Voltron blog: zarkondoms.tumblr.com
> 
> Ellie: vallraiene.tumblr.com


End file.
